Our Lord, throughout the Sermon on the Mount, touches every aspect of our hearts. Our greatest problem is that our hearts are not right, and unless we correct this, nothing in our lives—wherever we go, however much we have, or whatever our condition—will be right. If our hearts are right, then whatever we have, or don’t have, everything will be right. It is as if our hearts are diseased and full of cancer, hypocrisy, deception, and wickedness. As Jeremiah says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” It is the cause of all our troubles; it will torture and spoil our peace and joy and never give us rest. The greatest cure for this is the Sermon on the Mount. Everything in this sermon is focused on the heart. Our gracious Lord is operating on our hearts, first by removing the cancer, which is painful, and then by applying the medicines.
The Sermon on the Mount is like that; it is piercing and poking every area of our hearts, but as we allow the truths to enter, it also heals and gives us a healthy and beautiful heart—a straight, true, and simple heart. Only then will we have a beautiful life. He spoke about our attitudes and traits (the eight beatitudes), our commitment to the Word of God, the meaning of the law, religious works, giving, praying, and fasting. Then, here He comes to how we handle money. He sweeps through all these dimensions of life in this great sermon. We have seen in verses 19–24 what we shouldn’t do and what we should do: Do not lay up treasures on Earth; lay them up in Heaven.
He gives two reasons. The first is a general observation that nothing is stable or secure in this world. All our efforts and investments are meaningless; all who trust the world have found that it will cheat us in a second. Moths and rust corrupt, and thieves rob. Sickness can spoil everything, and death can take everything from us. Even unbelievers realize this with common sense.
The second and more important reason is that it will affect your heart, mind, and will. While living, we cannot be spiritual people or experience a heavenly life and be heavenly-minded if we lay up treasure on Earth. Where your treasure is, your heart will be. If your home, car, family, or job is your treasure, that is what will have your heart. It will be all you think about.
Since your heart always follows your money, it only makes sense to put your money where you want your heart to be. We spend all we have on the things of this world and then wonder why we have trouble concentrating on the things of God. You will never be able to get your heart focused on Heaven as long as all your money is focused on the Earth.
Next, what captures the heart will capture the mind and judgment. Your ability to discern what is of value will be incorrect. You will live a dark and confused life. If you want to make proper judgments about life and live in the light, your heart must be set on a single heavenly treasure. If your treasures are on Earth, your mind will become depraved and darkened, as in Romans 1, and you will be in total confusion. It is a terrible darkness. Your faith will not work; you will have no eye of faith and no value for unseen things. The eye that looks forward to the end of the race and sees the glorious reward for running the heavenly race will not see anything special. A sharp vision of faith can see the glory of eternity and the eternal reward that will be given to those who invest in His kingdom. You will not see any of that, experience Heaven’s joy, or have a spiritual life. You will not see the value of Heaven and the world to come. You will make terrible judgments, live, and not even know you are in darkness. How great is that darkness.
Then, He addresses the will: “No one can serve two masters.” Remember, only when you decide with your mind to serve God does spiritual light suddenly dawn on you, and you realize how foolish you have been. You can never hate one master and love another; you cannot serve both the world and God. You cannot serve money and God. You cannot spend all your time on movies and then love God. You will not enjoy anything. You must decide with a single mind to serve only God. The entire teaching of Matthew 6:19–21 can be summarized in six simple words: Invest in that which lasts forever!
Now, somebody might answer this way. They might say, “Well, you know, I read verses 19 to 24, and it said, ‘Don’t lay up for yourselves treasures on earth,’ and ‘Don’t serve money, serve God.’ But what about the future? In this kind of changing and expensive world, if I don’t stash a lot of it away, how do I know I’m going to have food and drink in the future? Who will give me anything when I have trouble and need? I’ll be stranded in the middle of the road. How do I know I’m going to have clothes and shelter for myself and my family?”
The Lord is saying, “If you obey My command and lay up treasures in Heaven, it is My promise that you shouldn’t worry about that. I will take care of you; trust Me. It is My job and promise to preserve you.” We have already seen that it is fine to save and plan for the future. It is wrong to worry about those plans because God will take care of them. We will be delivered from the slavery of worry only when we are able to lay up treasures in Heaven, and that happens when we don’t worry about the necessities of life and trust in God.
If you see the passage, Jesus repeats Himself five times:
- “Do not worry” (v. 25).
- “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” (v. 27).
- “Why do you worry?” (v. 28).
- “So do not worry” (v. 31).
- “Therefore do not worry” (v. 34).
Worry is the main topic of the passage. The Lord is calling for us to cease from worrying. I guess we all have to admit that worry is a part of life. It’s a pastime for most people; it occupies their thinking for a great portion of their daily waking hours. This is a worry about life and its preservation—food, drink, and the body and its comforts, clothes, and protection.
It is worry about this life—food, things, work, bills, loans, and the future—that distracts, disturbs, and nags us constantly. This is the kind of concern that fills us so much that when we wake up in the morning, our first thought is not God but the day ahead. “How will I work today, finish this and that, and earn money?” This is the kind of concern that hounds us through the day and doesn’t leave us when we lay our heads on the pillow. So instead of looking at God at night and thanking Him for preserving us that day, we are already looking at the next day with a fretful heart, worrying about the next day’s work and how we will meet this need and that need.
Our Lord is touching an area that we all face. Even the best of us have worries and concerns. For most of us, the worries are more regular. There is sickness; our bodies feel ten times worse because of mental pressure and stress. There are family problems, job problems, and difficulties with other people. For most people, it’s not just one thing; it’s many things wrapped up together. It’s a job, school, money, loans to pay, debt, your husband, your wife, the in-laws, the kids, and on and on it goes. We could handle any one thing, or even two, but when you get three or four together, you stagger in life.
We all worry, and we don’t see anything wrong with it. We justify it by talking to others. Some people tell us not to worry, and we justify it by saying, “It’s easy for you; you have a good job and are settled. You don’t have to worry. But I don’t know where my next meal will come from.” So we try to legitimize our worry. “I’m not worrying about extravagant things. I’m just worrying about my next meal, a glass of water (we only get water once a week), and something to wear; I have no proper clothes.”
But for the Christian, God’s child, that is forbidden. For the Christian, it is sinful and foolish. There’s no place for us to worry, even about the basic necessities of life.
Why? Worry is not only useless, but it is also very dangerous to our physical and spiritual lives. The effect it has on the body is unspeakable. People who worry a lot look aged quickly and die soon. But far beyond its psychological effect is the fact that the Bible tells us that for a Christian, for a child of God, worry is a sin. When we live in this sin, we cannot experience God’s deliverance and blessing unless we repent and change. Worry is an expression of an unbelieving heart. It says, “God is a liar,” and insults His character instead of hallowing His name. It’s the equivalent of saying, “God, I know you have promised to take care of me and do everything for me, but I doubt your character and power and whether you will be able to fulfill and meet my needs, so I worry.” Worry is the sin of distrusting the promise and providence of God, and yet we do it all the time.
“Worry is a thin stream of fear that trickles through the mind. If encouraged, it’ll cut a river or channel so wide that all other thoughts will be drowned in it.” Scripture warns us that if we don’t deal with this, we may not enter the kingdom of God. In Matthew 13:22, in the parable of the sower, you know what the thorns are: “The cares of this life.” As it says, “He also that received seed among the thorns is he that hears the word, and the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.” Do you know what can make the powerful, soul-saving Word of God completely useless, whether I or even the apostle Paul preaches here? It never takes root and grips our hearts because we have not learned to deal with the cares of this world. It completely hinders the Word. The problem is not with the Word but with the heart that is filled with worldly worry.
Scripture also warns that some people will not be prepared for the Second Coming because of this sin. Luke 21:34 is a very important passage: “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.” May the Holy Spirit help us be delivered from this. Some of you need to plead with God to deliver you from this sin. It is a horrible, horrible thing for physical and spiritual growth.
Now, the Lord is not forbidding diligent labor. We should not go to an extreme. We must find a balance. Some people will take this and use it as an excuse for laziness. “Okay, I won’t worry, so I’ll just lie on the sofa, read my Bible, and pray. The Lord will send crows to feed me.” No, He will not. “If any man does not work, let him not eat.” God ordained work for fulfilling our needs, but we must do it while trusting God and avoiding worry. This is not an excuse for laziness. Proper planning and diligent labor to save for the future are commanded. He is dealing with a sinful, anxious concern.
Let’s look at the verse and how it starts with the word “therefore.” The beauty of the sermon is its logical flow. Every topic is connected to the earlier one. See the connection between the earlier passage and this one. There is a vital connection between laying up treasures and anxious concern. People who don’t worry will lay up treasures in Heaven. People who are slaves to this anxiousness can never lay up treasures in Heaven. In the earlier verses, 19–24, having dealt with covetousness, He now deals with the root of covetousness.
This sermon always deals with the root of sin. Murder is the full fruit, anger is the seed, adultery is the flower, and lustful looks are the bud. The Bible tells us to deal with sin in the seed and bud form. The Lord is doing the same thing here. He has taken the full-bloom sin of overt covetousness—a man trying to amass treasure in this life and devoting all his energy to it—and says it is because of living in worldly worry. We may say, “I don’t lay up treasures like that, so I’m not a covetous or worldly man.” But the Lord says, “You are also covetous and have a root growing if you are anxious about the world.” Are you anxious with constant, nagging concerns about life when you wake up and when you sleep? Watch out; this is the seed of covetousness. Sinful anxiety about this life, just as the love of wealth and riches ensnares the rich, the fear of poverty and worrying about the future surely ensnares the souls of the poor in the same way. The connection is the full flower and the bud, the full fruit, and the seed.
There is another connection. Verse 25 begins with the word “Therefore,” and the word “therefore” is meant to take us back to the previous points. He said, first of all, earthly treasures corrupt. Then He said that yearning for earthly treasures will cause your heart to be where your treasure is. This will spoil you and not allow you to set your heart on Heaven, but on perishing Earth, and you will perish. It will blind your spiritual vision, you will not judge properly, and your will will be affected, so you cannot serve God. You will be a slave to your treasure. You will hate God and serve worldly things. Therefore, since earthly treasures corrupt you anyway, your heart will be where your treasure is, earthly treasures tend to blind your spiritual vision, and since earthly treasures tend to draw you away from serving God, you shouldn’t worry about those kinds of things. Do you see? That should not be your preoccupation, not even the basics of life. You don’t live for that.
The Lord knows that worry is embedded in us. The way He handles this truth is amazing. It is not a suggestion. He gives us a command. As the Lord and as King for His people, He commands, “Be not anxious.” He brings the truth in the form of a command, repeating “Do not worry” five times and a command not to worry three times. This is very serious. He that has My commandments and keeps them is the one who is My disciple and loves Me. Are you a disciple of Christ? A believer? This is a binding command from the Lord delivered to you. If you are His disciple, you will make every effort to change and make adjustments in your life.
The second reason it is given as a command is that we all need to have the shocking realization that disobeying this command and worrying about even basic things is a sin for a Christian. Anyone who is laying up treasures on Earth is in sin. Anyone worrying about this life is living in sin. When you are living in sin, there will be no deliverance or blessing from Him unless we repent. Do we really believe that worrying about food, clothes, and life is a sin? Do we see that worry from morning to night is sin? We will see that this is a grievous sin and that it leads to all kinds of sins in life. So, only when we see this as a command, with no option, and see worry as sin, will we take the first step to repentance and change.
Also, observe the passage. The good Lord doesn’t just give a command and leave. He doesn’t say it like a suggestion from a friend. He gives very reasonable reasons. Each command is given with simple but powerful observations. Amazingly, He gives eight reasons.
Now, let’s get the command first and then the reasons—not two or five, but eight. If seven don’t touch you, at least one will fit your case and touch you. So hear clearly and understand. Let us see the command clearly. Verse 25 says, “Therefore, I say unto you, ‘Be not anxious.'” And that’s repeated in verse 31, “Be not anxious,” and verse 34, “Be not anxious.” The Greek tense is unique, and it means, “Stop worrying.” If you’re already doing it, stop. And in verse 31, it’s different. It says, “Don’t start worrying.” If you’re worrying, stop. If not, never allow this worry in your life. It will spoil all your joy and peace and become a dirty habit. Then He says in verse 25, “for your life.” It has to do with the fullness of earthly, physical life, all that this life in this world is. Don’t be anxious about this world, the temporal, external, physical, earthly world, and all that makes up this Earth. Don’t worry about that, and if you’ve already started, then stop worrying about it.
Specifically, verse 25 says, “What you shall eat,” which is food, and “what you shall drink,” which is water or fluids. “Nor yet for your body, what you shall put on,” which is clothing. Food, water, and clothing—don’t worry about that. Don’t be anxious about that.
Nowadays, some rich people may not worry about the basics but have different worries related to worldly matters. We all have this kind of worry, but if you were living in Palestine at Jesus’ time in a desert environment, you might have been more concerned because there were times when the snows didn’t come to the mountains. When the snows didn’t come, the streams didn’t run, and in the burning summer heat, the stream would dry up and there was no water. We saw last week how the Cauvery River was dry throughout Tamil Nadu, with crops and agriculture badly affected. It was sad to see. Those days were terrible. And there were times when the crops didn’t come. If there was water, there were other dangers, like pests eating the crops, and there were no medicines like today. Sometimes, different plagues or locusts plagued the crops, and when the crops didn’t come through, there wasn’t any food and there was frequent famine in the land. Just like nowadays, they couldn’t store food. They had no fridge and no way to store food. There was no packed food at all—no biscuits, cocoa, or bread. Everything had to be freshly grown, plucked, cooked, and eaten. If there was no growth at that time, there was no food. And when there was famine in the land, with no water and no food, there was also no income, and when there was no income, there could be no purchase of clothing. People could die of starvation, lack of water, and cold, and they had only shaggy, torn clothes.
These words of our Lord are literally tremendous and powerful, spoken in the context of that time. They must have been shocking, too. He says, “Don’t you ever bother to worry about what you’re going to eat. Don’t you bother to worry about what you’re going to drink. And don’t give a second thought to what you’re going to wear. Don’t allow that worry to affect you in any way.” This must have been a shocking statement to those people on the edge of the parched desert who were totally dependent upon natural resources. “As children of God, don’t even give it a thought.” It’s amazing that He said that to them, who were so dependent on nature. How much more powerfully should it speak to us, living in the modern system in the city with so much safety? They had so much reason to worry in their dangerous and simple lives. How wrong it is for us to worry! He says that this should certainly be an indictment of our own worry about those kinds of things.
Living life without any worry about this world—what a blessed state to be in! To live a carefree life and soar like the birds in the sky, without any burdens. This is the command, and it should ring in our ears: “Don’t worry, don’t worry.”
The Lord knows that this is difficult, which is why He gives us eight amazing reasons not to be anxious. One reason would be good enough in His wisdom, but knowing how much this problem troubles us, He provides eight. For the coming weeks, instead of worrying, we should repeatedly read and deeply meditate on these eight reasons. As we do this, we will be delivered from worry. They are all simple yet powerful, and who knows which one might be perfectly crafted to meet your specific need?
Why Worry is Unnecessary: Your Father Cares
All eight of these reasons fall under one umbrella: Your Father Cares. You should never worry about finances or the basics of life—what you eat, drink, or wear—because it is unnecessary. Your Father cares for you.
Remember this. What Jesus says here is a fabulous thing. We forget our sonship, our relationship with our Father. No matter what condition or state we are in, no matter how bad or sinful, we are His children, and our Father cares about us. Nothing can change that. It is so foolish to forget that your Father cares. I cannot fully convey the great love and concern that overflows from these verses to people who worry. May the Holy Spirit do that work. Jesus says it is unnecessary to worry about material things, even the necessities of life, because your Father cares.
You know, we can use our own children as an example. My children don’t worry about where their next meal will come from. They don’t worry about whether they will have clothes, a bed, or something to drink. They never think, “Will Daddy pay for school fees?” That thought never enters their mind because they know enough about their father to know that he provides for them. He has done it for so many years, so he will continue to do so. They have absolutely no anxiety.
And believe me, I don’t even come 0.00000% close to being as faithful as God. And yet, how often we fail to believe that God is going to provide for us, and we worry. Anxiety is foolish. And the Lord gives us eight reasons that show that our Father cares.
Reason 1: Life Is More Than Food and Clothing
The first reason is given in verse 25. “Do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on.” Why? “Because life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.”
He gives us the right perspective. Worry comes because of a wrong perspective. Our judgment is darkened. “Is not the life”—the psuchē, the fullness of physical life—”far more than food and is not the body more than just clothing?” Why did God give us life and a body? They are great gifts. He gave us a living soul in His image, a soul you cannot buy for all the wealth in the world, and a fearfully and wonderfully made body that He created with such care. If He gave us those greater gifts, will He not also sustain them?
Is that all there is to life? Is that all you are going to focus on? “Food and drink, food and drink”—is that all your life is about? Worrying about it consumes all your time and energy. “Oh, the body is important!” No one cares for the body itself, only for how to decorate it. “Clothes, clothes,” they say. It’s so foolish. Just decorating the body, clothing the body, taking care of it, putting it in a nice car, living in a nice house, sitting in a nice comfortable chair, hanging a bunch of jewelry on it, and going on vacation. That’s the way most people live. But isn’t life more than that? Why are you worried about that? Life is not contained in food and drink, nor is the body contained in clothes.
We tend to get anxious about food, drink, and clothing for three reasons. First, we would lose some pleasures. Food and drink taste good. It is pleasurable to eat good food. Second, we would lose some human praise and admiration if we didn’t have nice clothes. Third, we would lose our long life if we had no food at all or weren’t protected from the cold. So we get anxious about food and clothing because we don’t want to lose physical pleasures, human praise, or our length of life.
To this, Jesus responds: If you are gripped by anxiety over these things, you have lost sight of the greatness of life. Life was not given primarily for physical pleasures but for something greater: the enjoyment of God. Life was not given primarily for the approval of man but for something greater: the approval of God. Life was not even given primarily for its extension on this earth but for something greater: eternity with God in the age to come.
We should not be anxious about food and clothing because food and clothing cannot provide the great things of life—the enjoyment of God, the pursuit of His gracious favor, and the hope of eternity in His presence. We get anxious about food and clothing to the same degree that we lose sight of the great purposes of a God-centered life. Life is more valuable than food and drink. God has given us a precious life and soul, which is more valuable than the world. Is food and drink more valuable than my life? Should that be my focus all the time? Ask your conscience: Is this what your life is? Will you live and die for this? If you have no greater purpose, how shameful that is.
We will look at the other seven reasons next week. This was just an introduction. This is practical stuff, isn’t it? Very practical. Just read the verses as preparation. Every time you worry, just open the Bible and keep reading. This truth will deliver us. It’s not something distant; it is God’s infallible promise. As a Father, He cares for you, and He is concerned that you have every meal. We say in the daily bread prayer that He fed Israel and He fed Elijah with a crow. He will give you food. He will give you clothing. He will determine the length of your life and sustain it. That’s very tangible stuff. You have no grounds for financial worry if your heart is right.
The key is to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these other things will be added. The key is to put your heart and your treasure in heaven, and God will take care of all the earthly things. I just believe in my heart that I don’t want to give one minute a day to thinking about physical, mundane, earthly things. God is going to take care of that. He is your Father. Do you believe Him?
We pray: “Lord, we do not want to be those of little faith. We do not want to be those who don’t believe, burdened with worldly cares and stuck in the mud until we die. We want to be those who are free, free to soar to the heights, free to walk in the heavenlies, free to invest in eternity because we take no thought for what we eat or drink or what we will wear. There are so many poor saints who have achieved great things for the kingdom because they never allowed worldly cares to burden them. Speak to each heart and make the application, Lord, where it is needed. May each of us come to a practical way in which we can implement what You have taught us today. In Christ’s name, Amen.”
Communion Meditation
Communion is meant to be done in remembrance of Him. So my thoughts should remember. What should we remember? Let me suggest three thoughts that will help us prepare our minds for communion: remember His love that made Him die for us, remember what His death purchased for us, and remember the purpose for which He died.
1. Remember His Love
In a fresh manner, think of the love that compelled Him to die for us. Scripture makes a close connection between Christ’s love and His death. Galatians 5 says, “Christ loved me and gave Himself for me.” Ephesians 5 says husbands should love their wives as “Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.” There is a close connection between His love and His death. His death is the pinnacle of His love.
The way to love Christ more is not to look at our own useless, small love for Him; if we do that, it will shrink and become even less. Instead, we should meditate on His great love for us. The more we see His love, the more our love for Him will be kindled and increased. Let’s call to mind the love that gave Himself for us. This includes God becoming man, living a life of poverty, and experiencing all suffering for us.
In times of struggle, dryness, or emptiness, meditate on the love of Christ. See the scenes of Gethsemane, His pleading with the Father to let the cup pass from Him. See Gabatha, His scourging with stones and bones, His back shredded, His flesh and blood flowing down, and being blindfolded, beaten, mocked, and spit upon. See Golgotha and the horrors that He bore for us. For three hours, the wrath of Almighty God was poured out on Him for us. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Engage in such thoughts of His great love. Even now, He thinks of and prays for us, always. Even though our love is so pathetic, He sees us always with the same love and intensity as when He was hanging on the cross, bearing the punishment for our sins. His love never cools down.
2. Remember the Benefits Procured by His Death
Christ died to procure amazing, broad, and inestimable spiritual blessings for us. When we look at the New Testament, every epistle elaborates on the great blessings Christ’s suffering brought for us. To name just a few:
- Full pardon of all our sins. Pause and reflect on the wonder of forgiveness, the greatest blessing. We have the forgiveness of all our sins before a holy God and are accepted as righteous. He who knew no sin was made sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Do you know what a blessing it is for sins to be forgiven? It is the greatest disease cured in our life. He forgives all our sins. Psalm 103:12 says, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” How far is the east from the west? It is infinite. Micah 7 says, “Who is a pardoning God like you? Who passes by our transgressions and who buries them in the depths of the sea?” No conscience can condemn us. “There is, therefore, now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). No judgment for us. None of our sins can rise in judgment against us because the judgment fell on Christ. He will save His people from their sins.
- Secured a righteous standing. By His death on the cross, He secured my person as righteous. I am hidden in the robe of His perfect righteousness.
- Provision for ongoing cleansing. Not only that, but He procured the provision for the cleansing of ongoing sin in the life of a believer. 1 John 1:7 says, “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” All sins are forgiven. What a joy that is!
By His death, we are:
- Justified. There is no punishment for any sins—past, present, or future. All your sins have been placed on Jesus, and His righteousness has been placed on you. You are righteous before God because you believed in Jesus Christ and ran to Him for salvation.
- Reconciled to God. God is not angry with you. He is a caring Father. Though you may be a wayward child, He never gets angry in a judgmental way; He always wants to correct you.
- Adopted as His child.
- Given a new heart. You have become a new creation. Your terrible heart can now be transformed. You will feel differently. What you once liked, you will not like anymore. You will want to do good things.
- Given the peace of God. You will feel a peace you have never felt anywhere else at any time in your life. The peace Jesus Christ gives is not found anywhere in the world. Don’t you want that? A great peace, joy, and tranquility. No loneliness. You will realize that someone is very close to you, and that is God. Why is there no peace in your life?
- Given eternal life. What a blessing! No fear of death.
- Given the Holy Spirit. God’s Spirit will come into your heart, and you yourself will become the temple of God.
- Provided for. Jesus Christ promises to take care of your needs. Philippians 4:19 says, “My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
- Given a good outcome. Everything that happens to us will be for our own good. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
- Secured our journey to heaven. By His death, He has secured everything we need to be taken safely to heaven. Romans 8:32 says, “He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?”
This is just a sample of the many other blessings. Nothing brings more glory to God than when we rejoice in what Christ brought by His blood. It does not glorify God when, through unbelief, we say we are unworthy and that those blessings are too high for us. They were all given for the worst sinners, like us. God is glorified when He looks down on a people who, in spite of their unworthiness, sinfulness, and deserving of hell, rejoice and exult in the death of His Son. So, engage in these thoughts.
3. Remember the Purpose for Which He Died
Renew your consecration of yourself to the person and the purpose for which He died. Why did He die? Christ died so we could live for Him. All who are saved by Christ joyfully acknowledge that we are not our own, we have been bought with a price. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
I am not my own. All that is mine—my body and soul—has been purchased by His blood. The ownership belongs to Jesus Christ. He bought me fully by giving all of Himself. That is the reality. What a blessed time to remember that, as I take the bread and the wine, that His body was given and His blood was shed. I am His, and I am not my own. All my powers, faculties, body, soul, energy, and life are His. I am His purchased possession.
If this is true, then 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 says that since He died for us, the righteous, we should die to our sinful life and live for Him. Our lives should no longer be a focal point of self-interest, self-promotion, or self-aggrandizement. “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was raised.”
He died, as Titus 2:14 says, so that His people would be zealous for good works. Works for His glory and by the strength of His Spirit. Christ did not die to have a church where people come and go, taking pride in what He purchased. He died for the purpose of having a people who are zealous for good works. Here at this table, the temperature is turned up. If you have cooled down and become lukewarm, this is the table that makes you hot.
“Lord Jesus, you died and gave Yourself for me. Your cross is the only true love. Everything in the universe is a lie and a shadow compared to that. You loved me like no other—not my mother, my wife, or anybody else in this world. I am Yours. Remembering all that You gave me and all that awaits me—what glory awaits me because of Your death—surely whatever time and energy I have left, I will give for works that will glorify You.”
As you take this bread, which is His body that was broken for you, and this wine, which is His blood that was shed for you, ask yourself, “Are the ends for which it was broken and shed being fulfilled in my life? Am I living for myself, or am I seeking to live for Him who died for me and rose again?”
“Oh, Lord Jesus, as I take this bread and wine, send Your Spirit’s power—not to just give me joy or power, but the power to crucify my self, to die to self and sin, and to live Your life in me. May I not live for my plans or my life. Lord Jesus, I am very poor in zealous good works. May remembering Your love and what You purchased for me cause me to be zealous for good works. As I take the blood and bread, may I live as Your purchased property, redeemed by Your blood.”
Grace Reformed Baptist Church, Bangalore 